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When we think of smart money moves, we don’t often think of something as mundane as taking care of ourselves. However, the truth is that taking care of yourself can be great for your finances.
Here’s what I mean:
Better Health = Better Finances
Adequate Sleep Means Intelligent Choices
It’s clear that a lack of sleep can impair your judgment. In fact, some studies indicate that a lack of sleep is similar to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 percent. This is the point at which your ability to drive begins to be somewhat impaired, and it’s also the point at which you’re less able to make rational decisions. [ continue reading… ]
Yes, they are — but I don’t think they’re quite as expensive as the studies and surveys say. Even though I hate to admit it, I know I often make my child more expensive than she has to be. If many of us parents were to take a good, hard look at what we’re spending on our kids, we’d find that many of the expenses are our own doing.
Thankfully, the answer to cheaper kids is simple: simplify. It’s not always the easiest thing to do — and feelings may get hurt in the process — but simplifying is better for your budget and your family.
If you haven’t yet been nominated for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, chances are you will be soon. This challenge, which went viral in June 2014, has raised more than 40 million dollars for ALS research. (ALS is a disease of the nervous system more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.)
The spread of ALS awareness through the Ice Bucket Challenge has increased the ALS Association’s donations to more than twice their total in 2013. The premise is that once a person is challenged, they have 24 hours to dump a bucket of ice-cold water on their head, and donate any sum to ALS research, or else donate $100 (the trend set by President Barack Obama).
While this pop culture fundraising phenomenon has raised a lot of criticism for various reasons, it does show that giving to charity doesn’t have to be boring.
“Can you stop by Target on your way home and pick up Tristan’s prescription?” read the text message.
My automatic response was simply to confirm I’d retrieve our son’s medication as instructed, but further thought caused my forehead to scrunch in confusion. We’ve always gotten our prescription drugs at the Walmart pharmacy, since we’re there several times a week to do the bulk of our grocery shopping. After a brief text message exchange, my wife explained she thought it would be more convenient since Target was closer to my employer.
From that point on, we had all our prescriptions filled at Target. Though it wasn’t for any specific reason, something came in the mail this week that convinced me Target is the right pharmacy for us.[ continue reading… ]
The only thing that many personal finance writers hate more than buying a car with a loan? Leasing a car. However, there are times when it might make sense for you to lease. This is especially true if your alternative is to buy a car with a 72-month loan.
Swapalease performed a study to determine the financial sense of leasing versus getting a 72-month loan, and here’s what they found:
In what they called an apples-to-apples comparison, they looked at a $30,000 vehicle for which you put $1,000 down and paid 5% in interest and 6.5% in sales tax. They found that you could save $2,000 overall by getting two 36-month leases, rather than one 72-month car loan. And if you were to go through the process of four 18-month lease transfers, you could save as much as $5,000. [ continue reading… ]
During my first year of teaching, one of my friends in the English department had a baby halfway through the school year. In chatting with her about how she and her husband (a teacher in another district) planned to pay for parental leave to welcome their baby home, I was shocked to discover that neither school district paid for maternity leave. Instead, both my friend and her husband had to use their accrued sick and personal days to cobble together a few months of paid leave.
My shock came from a misunderstanding of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). I thought it provided for parents to take time off with their new arrivals (or take care of ailing family members). In reality, all FMLA guarantees is that your job (or an equivalent) will be waiting for you at the end of your leave.
According to a 2011 census report, only 50% of first-time mothers receive paid leave — and that figure includes people like my friend, who had to use her sick days.
If you’re expecting a child and rely on your paycheck (and who doesn’t?), a lack of paid maternity leave can turn your joyous event into a financial headache.
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